Multimedia Text Set for Digital Learning Experience
Names: Gina So, Ashley Moss & Erika Lopez
Contents: English & Spanish
Anchor text: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Main character: Esperanza
Setting: Chicago in the 1980’s
Gina So:
1. Poem: “Becoming Joey”
https://read.activelylearn.com/#teacher/reader/authoring/preview/738465/notes
By reading this poem, students will be able to reflect on Joey’s and Esperanza’s experiences of
immigration and how they feel about their new location and their struggles to fit in. Students will
be able to see how Joey’s experience with this new place differs from Esperanza’s reaction.
2. Short Story: “Fish Cheeks”
https://www.commonlit.org/en/texts/fish-cheeks
Students will be able to analyze how the narrator feels about her Asian background/culture and
how Esperanza feels about her Mexican culture. This story will serve as an expansion of how
others in different cultures can relate to the same struggles Esperanza faces when it comes to
their cultures.
3. Video: Interview with The House on Mango Street author, Sandra Cisneros
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pyf89VsNmg
Cisneros gives background information to the inspiration of the novel, The House on Mango
Street, along with the powerful themes of the novel. This video will give students more insight
into the themes of the novel, allowing students to relate to the story and characters as Cisneros
shares very relatable themes.
4. Collage of images: “An Immigrant’s Perspective”
http://nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/sites/default/files/Lesson%206%20Appendix.pdf
Focusing on the many images of life after immigration from the perspective of Mexican-
Americans, this collage of images will allow students to gain insight into the lives of Mexican-
Americans as they were immigrating to America and after. As these are real pictures, students
will be able to gain a sense of deeper understanding in the struggles, celebrations, and daily life
of these families.
Ashley Moss:
1. Introduction to The House on Mango Street plot:
a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCh4GNrlFRs
i. This video will help to aid students in their understanding of the primary
text and serve as a solid introduction to the story at hand.
2. Introduction to The House on Mango Street Characters:
a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RUov3ejAdQ
i. This video will help in the understanding of the characters of the story,
who they are and their relationships to each other.
3. To Live in the Borderlands poem:
a. https://www.best-poems.net/gloria-e-anzald-a/to-live-in-the-borderlands.html
i. This poem provides some additional insight into the identity crisis
experienced by multicultural individuals and will be used so that students
can better understand and relate to the struggles experienced by the
characters.
4. La Nueva Chicana poem:
a. http://www.umich.edu/~ac213/student_projects07/latfem/latfem/expressions.html
i. This poem will be utilized in discussing women’s unique roles and
experiences within the Mexican culture and their shift towards further
independence around the time of La Raza in 1968.
Erika Lopez:
1. Article: My Mexican American Identity Crisis
https://www.cnn.com/2012/11/30/opinion/navarrette-mexican-american/index.html
This article will connect students to the point of view of a Mexican American in the US and their
identity crisis. It will help students connect to the reading because it ties into what Esperanza is
going through in the book The House on Mango Street.
2. Video: “Machismo” violence in Mexican culture (Spanish)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HulZW1zPpcw
Our anchor text deals a lot with a patriarchal Mexican culture in Esperanza’s life. This
video shows how sometimes a patriarchal culture or “machismo” can lead to violence
against women. This text is in my content language.
3. Picture:
This picture will connect the students to the “struggle” of being Mexican American. They
will use this image to identify with the main character Esperanza and will create a
graphic organizer that will show what differences there are in the two cultures plus some
similarities.
4. Article: The Struggle of the Hispanics
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-07-02-8502120853-story.html
This article will go deeper into understanding the struggle of Mexican-Americans in the
80’s and some of the difficulties that Esperanza went through. Students will understand
the setting much more when reading this article and it will prepare them for the reading.
